1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to consumer products available for inspection at point of purchase and, more particularly, to a system for facilitating product identification for persons with limited vision.
2. Background Art
Myriad systems and devices have been devised to assist the day-to-day functioning of those with limited or impaired vision. The objective of those who design such systems and devices is to make it possible for those with limited vision to function as safely and efficiently throughout their day as those without such limitations. Much of the focus in this area has been upon facilitating the assimilation of written information that is pervasive in people's lives. Such information is important on a daily basis as people navigate, shop, dine, etc. Among the resources currently available to facilitate information conveyance to those with limited vision are braille labeling systems, scanning readers, etc.
Braille is probably the oldest and most common visual assistance system. Where braille is available, an individual can tactilely identify information that is placed on surfaces in proximity to locations or products relative to which such information relates.
One limitation with braille is that it has a letter/number-by-letter/number correspondence with alphanumeric characters. Thus, reading an extensive amount of information in braille can be time consuming, even for individuals skilled in this task.
An exemplary environment in which this last limitation is significant is at point of purchase where consumers shop and make decisions as to purchase based upon product inspection. While the inventor herein is not aware that braille identification is even offered on products in stores such as those that sell groceries, etc., even if it were available, as commonly used, braille, as conventionally used, is to a certain extent impractical. For example, if all the information on grocery store products was provided in braille, a consumer would have an onerous and time consuming chore inspecting multiple products in the multitude of aisles and shelves typical of most consumer product establishments. The user would be required to pore through large amounts of information borne on each product/article to identify information that is significant in terms of affecting a purchasing decision.
As an alternative to the use of braille, the aforementioned scanning readers might be used for product identification. These scanners address certain of the above issues. For example, scanners allow a user to quickly identify potentially all written information that may appear on a particular product. However, scanners have other problems peculiar to their own design.
First of all, a reliable scanner currently demands a significant financial investment. The costs may be out of the budget range of a significant percentage of the population. Use of a lesser quality unit may lead to problems in terms of speed, accuracy, reliability, etc.
Further, while scanners allow relatively rapid identification of information, generally this information is more detailed than necessary to allow a purchasing decision to be made. Having to sort through large quantities of useless information is time consuming and potentially tiring to a user of such scanning equipment.
Additionally, if the scanner fails, or the owner does not have the unit on his/her person at the appropriate times, it is not possible for that person to make any product identification. The need to at all times have on hand an assist unit also inherently detracts from an individual's self-sufficiency throughout the day.
Designers continue to investigate alternative systems and devices that simplify and make more efficient the lives of those with visual limitations.